


True Aspirations Ship Oneshots

by Yunime



Category: Original Work, True Aspirations
Genre: Drama, Fluff, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, One Shot Collection, Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26916775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yunime/pseuds/Yunime
Summary: A mix of non-canon and semi-canon oneshots of ships from T.A.
Relationships: Colston Relish/Dennis Jansen, Hyun-a Li/Rudy Myers, Min-Jun Yi/Alicia (T.A), Min-Jun Yi/Rudy Myers, Nagisa Yuuki/Ruby Myers





	1. Nagisa x Ruby

**Author's Note:**

> In which Ruby notices that Nagisa is in a bad mood, and decides to cheer them up.

Ever since the school day began, Ruby noticed that Nagisa was  _ sad _ . That’s all there was to it. Just by tossing a quick glance at their expression, Ruby could almost always read their emotions extremely well. Dennis called her a psychic due to that fact, but Ruby was sure that definitely wasn’t it. Nagisa and Ruby had known each other for around two years, and the two of them had seemingly spent more time with each other than anyone else. Not even the time Nagisa spent with their childhood friend Lisa could amount to the experiences they and Ruby shared. So at that point, if you read into everything a bit more, it’d make perfect sense; why Ruby understood Nagisa so well, more than anyone.

And  _ because  _ Nagisa was feeling sad, Ruby naturally took the initiative to cheer them up. As a matter of fact, Nagisa wasn’t usually feeling that down, for they’d always be thinking about their favorite things to keep them cheerful and filled with joy. But that one day was different, and Ruby couldn’t put her finger on  _ why.  _

And so, in order to investigate, Ruby differentiated from her usual routine after dismissal and decided to take a long walk with Nagisa towards the clubroom, prompting their conversation with a subtle wave. However, nothing came of it.

It was then that she decided to speak up. “Hey, Nagi! So, did you have fun during science?” She wanted to be extra careful with her wording, even though not too many things bothered Nagisa. Ruby’s always been the type to be cautious of her words before uttering them (unlike Lisa or Dennis) so she doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings on accident. But for some reason, this desire was only strengthened when she was around Nagisa. 

Speaking of Nagisa, why weren’t they saying anything?

Ruby still bore her usual wide grin, awkwardly continuing, “So, uh, what do you do in the clubroom today? I heard that a certain someone’s gonna host a thumb war competition! Maybe we should check it out and see who wins.”

“Hmm,” Nagisa hummed, looking downwards to the floor, their solemn expression still lingering.

This sight caused Ruby to frown. “Hey… I don’t wanna get up in your business, but are you okay? You look pretty sad.”

Nagisa only nodded their head without uttering a single word, standing in place.

“I don’t believe you, Nagi. You still look upset.” And with that, Ruby stood right before Nagisa, their faces only centimeters apart from one another’s. This caused Nagisa to look into her eyes. “Did someone pick on you again?”

Finally snapping to their senses and realizing their state of closeness, Nagisa rapidly shook their head and took a step back.

“Agh, sorry, I made you uncomfortable, didn’t I?” Ruby took a step back as well. “But I just really wanna help, y’know? I don’t like it when I see my friends super upset like this or anything.”

More than anything, Nagisa wanted to reply, but they couldn’t find the spirit to. It was great that Ruby wanted to cheer them up, but what occurred the previous day with their parents flipped their life upside down in undesired ways. 

Nagisa averted their eyes and eventually walked past Ruby, hastily making their way towards the clubroom. 

“Oh…” Ruby turned around, only able to watch Nagisa’s back as they walked away. 

_ Yeah… I probably made things worse, didn’t I? I hate it when I’m so intrusive like that. I gotta apologize. But first, I’m gonna cheer them up so they can feel better. _

Ruby was used to beating herself up like this, but in the end, she always regained her cheerful and energetic nature, and the instinct to assist other people with whatever they might’ve needed, no matter who they were. Rudy slowly but surely took notice of this never ending pattern and strongly desired to consult his sister about this unhealthy behavior, but with a mix of her not telling anyone about it and insisting that she was always okay, Rudy didn’t want to cause any more trouble for her. 

Not allowing her determined spirit to be broken, Ruby followed Nagisa at a steady pace, still making sure that Nagisa wouldn’t get the indication that she was going to “bother” them again. 

As the evening continued to pass by, Ruby continued to take notice of Nagisa’s mood. Throughout the club’s numerous conversations consisting of wide variety, she took all the opportunities available to her for including Nagisa as much as possible. However, the closest she could get to reaching her goal was Nagisa stating their input on a random topic for only a few seconds, and immediately switching back to their rather melancholic expression. Nobody else could tell, but Ruby sure could, and it was painful. Just seeing Nagisa in such a state and not even knowing what caused it was like a spear to her heart.

Oddly enough, after around an hour of participating in the club’s “activities,” Ruby caught Nagisa tossing glances at her multiple times, and whenever their eyes met, Nagisa would immediately look away. Ruby took this as a sign that perhaps Nagisa truly  _ did  _ want to talk to her one-on-one after all, which was a pleasant sign at that. Then again, it also would have meant that Nagisa was growing tired of Ruby’s babbling and secretly wanted her to stop without uttering a single indicator, but Ruby wanted to look on the positive side of things. It was what she did best. Well, of course, not when it came to thinking of herself, but it was still something.

When their club meeting was over, Nagisa waited for everyone to leave, for the rowdiness of the club’s members all leaving at once overwhelmed them, and they always wanted to take their time and do things at their own pace. Ruby liked doing the same, and would take the short while she had to converse with Nagisa, and this time was especially no different. She was honestly a bit surprised to find out that Nagisa didn’t want to leave with everyone else. After all, Ruby just assumed that they were annoyed with her.

“Hey, Nagi!” Ruby greeted, smiling in a way that made Nagisa feel faint on their feet. “So, did you have fun? Wasn’t Lisa’s performance super cool?”

Nagisa directly faced Ruby, blinking owlishly and nodding their head. 

Overjoyed to receive a (hopefully) positive response from them, Ruby’s smile only grew wider. “I thought it was cool, too! But honestly, in my opinion, Dennis had her beat. Maybe you can join them in their dramatic speech thing sometime soon!” She exclaimed without a second thought, “You have a really cool way with words. Your writing is very poetic, too.”

“...Oh.” 

Oh?  _ Oh?  _ An ‘oh’ was all Ruby was gonna get?

It might’ve seemed like nothing, but on the inside, Ruby’s mind was in an utter  _ uproar.  _

And all she could add was the simple phrase: “It’s the truth!”

Nagisa’s eyebrows rose in response to that statement as they lowered their head once more, playing with a strand of their hair. 

“So, uh…” Ruby felt the need to resume the conversation, but she couldn’t even find a topic to settle on, let alone sit still. She didn’t want to force Nagisa into confessing what happened to them, either. “Well, are you gonna go home soon? I promised Rudy that I’d walk home with him today, so I’ll be leaving in a bit.”

Beginning to play with their sleeve, Nagisa felt a wave of anxiousness come upon them, and it was perfectly visible to Ruby, to her dismay.

She stammered out, “W-Wait, uh, did you wanna do something? I just didn’t know, that’s all. I don’t want you to be upset or anything.” Mumbling, she hesitantly added, “Like you already are…”

Nagisa averted their gaze from Ruby. After a few seconds of awkward silence, they decided to get up from their seat.

Ruby took notice of this. “Oh, you’re leaving? I, uh, guess I’ll leave, too.” She followed suit, attempting to break her eye contact away from Nagisa. But somehow, she just couldn’t. It definitely wasn’t because they looked nice or anything. She was just worried about them, and that was all.

With a subtle squeak of the door, Nagisa exited the clubroom and couldn’t help but glance at Ruby. Once the duo’s eyes met once again, they muttered a “See you,” and with that, walked into the hallway. 

“...Ah.” Ruby waved goodbye in an attempt to bid her farewell, but it was already too late, for Nagisa already left. But that definitely wasn’t something Ruby was expecting, so it wasn’t like she had any time to prepare. It was a welcome surprise.

_ Well, at least they spoke to me a little. That’s something! I don’t know if they’re still annoyed at me or not, but maybe I can cheer ‘em up and apologize sooner or later. Yeah… _

The next day came, and throughout the entire school day, all Ruby could think about was Nagisa. Once dismissal was finally in effect, the very first thing she wanted to do was approach Nagisa, but she didn’t wanna come off as clingy or impulsive. So instead, she decided to calm down a little and take her time by conversing with Miette and a few of her other friends located in the classroom. But even so, the only thing on her mind was cheering up Nagisa (and apologizing to them afterwards, of course). 

Once the conversation with her friends was over, she came up with a few ideas to get Nagisa in a good mood, such as bringing them a gift, saying funny jokes, or helping them make some new friends. Unfortunately, Ruby deemed herself as useless for such things, and therefore, her options were cut short. However, in the end, she eventually came up with the idea to draw a picture of one of Nagisa’s favorite things and gift it to them. She wasn’t very good at drawing at all, but the fact that it might bring joy to Nagisa gave her the motivation she needed.

Before Nagisa could arrive at the clubroom, Ruby caught up with them, catching her breath from running up the stairs. “Hah… hey, Nagi! Uh, do you have a second?”

Nagisa turned around to face Ruby. They still bore the same frown from the previous day, but if you looked closely enough, you could spot a sense of joy within their eyes. 

Although Ruby couldn’t notice this, she still decided to go on with her question. “Okay, so, uh, mind if I borrow a piece of paper from your notebook real quick? And do you happen to have any pencils, either?”

Without an audible reply, Nagisa dug their hand into one of their large pockets and pulled out a medium-sized notebook, and within the other pocket was a mechanical pencil. They handed the two items to Ruby with a firm nod.

Ruby lightly chuckled. “Thanks so much, Nagisa! ...But I only need a single piece of paper.”

Getting the memo, Nagisa gently tore out a piece of paper from the notebook. They placed the notebook back inside their pocket and handed the paper back to Ruby.

“Hehe, thanks again!” At that moment, Ruby’s smile was so radiant and bright, it could’ve made Nagisa blind right then and there.

“...Sorry.”

“Huh?” Before she could leave, Ruby stopped in her place and faced Nagisa once again.

“The notebook.” They pointed to the piece of paper being grasped in Ruby’s hands, “You asked,” they pointed to themself, “me to give you,” they pointed to Ruby, “one piece of paper. I forgot seconds after. Sorry.”

“Oh! It’s okay, I should’ve been more clear!” Ruby’s reaction was more than simple, but her heart was doing a million backflips. 

“Bye-bye.” 

“Yeah, see you later! I’ll be right back!” Ruby hurried down the stairs, disappearing from Nagisa’s sight. 

She wouldn’t be able to find a calm, quiet, or relaxing place to complete her drawing, but she and her friends would always hang out together inside a certain empty classroom if they didn’t want to go out into the schoolyard. While Dennis preferred to spend time with some random person in the girls’ bathroom, Ruby would talk to Miette, Summer, Hope, and a few others. But on that day, she wanted to focus on the drawing she was making for Nagisa. It was the only thing she was able to think of (that she could actually do) which would provide a high chance of putting Nagisa back into their usual cheerful mood.

Arriving into the classroom and sitting at a random, clean desk, the first thought that came to mind was drawing Yakitori; one of Nagisa’s many pets. However, Ruby was still inexperienced at the arts, and therefore, minutes seemed like hours, and she found herself fixing a multitude of her mistakes, obsessing over the smallest details and making sure the drawing was perfect. She wanted to make sure it was something worth framing, because if that were the case, then it’d be sure to make Nagisa happy, and she could finally see their beautiful smile. 

At last, once almost an entire hour had passed, Ruby was able to create an art piece she was proud of, and she strongly believed that it was presentable to Nagisa. It had been a long time since she was actually proud of something she did herself, and the thought of giving it to her most precious friend made her feel more than content. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, a teacher located by the doorframe, “Ruby, may I speak with you for a second? It’s about your score.”

Ruby looked up and stood up from her seat, leaving her drawing on the table. “Yes mam! I’m coming!” 

She already knew this wasn’t a bad thing, and so did the rest of her friends. She was used to being called by one of the teachers either during class or after dismissal. After all, she  _ did _ get excellent grades, so her discussions with the teachers were mostly a matter of the adult praising her and giving her offers for participating in other electives, competitions, or clubs, and her respectfully declining, for she already belonged to the club her brother owned. 

After a few minutes of light conversation, Ruby returned to the classroom with her usual radiant grin. However, what awaited her immediately turned her smile upside down and caused her face to go blank. 

There on her desk, laid crumpled and torn up pieces of paper, with her friends Miette, Hope, and Summer staring at the sight with solemn expressions.

Ruby’s drawing was torn to shreds. The very thing she had worked so hard on for Nagisa. It was gone. 

Miette’s hand reached out towards Ruby, but before she could explain the situation, Ruby had already dashed out of the classroom at a quickening pace.

She stood against the wall and kneeled down to the floor, unable to process what had occured. She then hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face into her arms, covering up her sorrowful expression. No longer able to suppress the tears, they began to fall from her eyes like water spilling from a dam. 

_ What the heck…? Why do all of these things keep happening to me? I try to make things better, but… but my bad luck just keeps ruining it all. I’m cursed. I was stupid to think that I could’ve helped Nagisa at least a little…  _

She sniffled and rubbed her nose, looking upwards.

_ I feel terrible. I… I gotta apologize to them. The club’s activities should be over by now, so… _

After taking a few minutes to herself, her tears slowly dissipating, she stood up once again and hastily walked upstairs, finally arriving before the clubroom. However, to her demise, the door was already closed.

She missed her chance.

Not hearing a single utter of words from inside the clubroom, she came to the conclusion that everyone had already left, including Nagisa. It was then that she decided to give up. Cheering up Nagisa was impossible. Doing anything to help her loved ones was impossible. Trying to accomplish anything was impossible. And those thoughts were burned deep into her soul as she punched the door out of frustration, refusing to let her tears fall once again. 

But then, she heard a whimper.

It was nothing but a faint cry coming from the clubroom. 

_ Is that Nagisa? _

Allowing her curiosity to get the best of her, with a twist of the doorknob, she slowly and quietly opened the door, ignoring the ear-piercing creak it let out. 

At that moment, she spotted Nagisa, sitting on the floor by themself, tears spilling down their cheeks.

“Nagi?”

As soon as Nagisa heard Ruby’s voice call out for them, their eyes sparkled as they lifted their head. 

Their eyes had met with one another’s.

“Nagi…!” Ruby quickly approached Nagisa and kneeled down to their level. “Hey, are you okay? What happened? Did you get hurt?”

Nagisa rubbed their eyes, the tears beginning to dissipate. “No…” 

“I’m glad you’re not hurt.” Ruby reached for Nagisa’s hand. Nagisa was confused by this action, but after a few seconds of indecisiveness and embarrassment, they grabbed Ruby’s hand, allowing her to lift them up from the floor. “You were crying, weren’t you? Did something happen?”

Nagisa hesitantly replied with a broken voice, “Well…”

“...No,” Ruby shook her head, “I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.” Her grasp on Nagisa’s hand tightened. “I shouldn’t be asking you all of this. I’m invading your privacy. I’ve been bothering you so much, but you just looked really sad, and I couldn’t help but try to cheer you up, and, I…” She solemnly looked downwards out of shame. “I tried making a drawing of your cat Yakitori so you could feel better, but… it got torn up. I’m sorry, Nagi.”

Shock crossed Nagisa’s face as they stood as still as a statue, their gravity-drawn shoulders and hitching breath exposing the deepest of their sorrows. “Ruby…”

“I’m probably making you even more upset. Here I am, crying to you over my problems. You’re probably going through much worse, and I can’t even help…”

“That’s not true.”

Ruby lifted her head. “Huh?”

“I said that’s not true.” Nagisa switched their expression to one which was uncharacteristically sincere, a slight change affecting their tone of voice as well. “You made me happy.”

Ruby shook her head out of disbelief. “But… how did I…?”

“You made me happy. Very happy. Whenever you talked to me, I felt a little better. Talking to you is fun.”

“Really…?”

“Yes. What about you?”

Ruby took a step closer to Nagisa and passionately declared, “I love talking to you too, Nagi! I just thought that I was bothering you, because you didn’t say much like you usually do, even though you’re normally quiet, but still! I got really worried, and I thought that maybe trying to talk to you would help…”

“You didn’t have to try so hard.”

“I know. This is gonna sound weird, but…” Ruby ran her hand throughout her hair. “Whenever I’m with you, I feel like I don’t have to try too hard or anything, but since you seemed really sad, I wanted to try extra hard to make you feel better, but of course I had to fail at that…”

“Ruby.”

“I can barely do anything right, even if it has to do with my friends. I’m really the worst.”

“Ruby.”

“I promise that I’ll try to make it up to you. I can try making you another drawing, but… it’s not gonna be that good. I’m sorry.”

Not knowing what to do, Nagisa continued to stare into Ruby’s beautiful crimson eyes. Once an idea finally came to them, they simply took off their hat and called out her name one last time.

“...Ruby.”

Nagisa drew closer to Ruby’s face, their heart beating out of their chest. They gently moved a lock of Ruby’s hair away from her face, their hand grazing above her ear and their eyes fluttering closed. Ruby lightly jerked back from the sudden action, but quickly relaxed and closed her eyes as well. It was only a matter of time before she could feel something light below her eye, and as soon as she felt this sensation, she shot open her eyes, only to find Nagisa’s lips on her cheek. It only lasted for a few seconds, and afterwards, Nagisa moved away from her, covering up their face with their hands to hide their flustered expression. 

They quietly mumbled, averting their eyes, “...T-That’s… a thank you. Thank you, Ruby.”

Ruby’s fingers traced her cheek as her pulse quickened. She rapidly looked downwards, heat rising to her face. “Y-You’re thanking me?”

“Yeah… and I’ll be fine. I’m better now. Just let me worry about… y-you.”

All Ruby could do was let her tears fall at that moment. Never did she ever think that Nagisa even cared about her that much, let alone looked out for her. Such an amazing thing could’ve never existed in Ruby’s book, but it was thanks to the miracle that was Nagisa—the student who entered Ruby’s life—that brought joy to her and made her feel all sorts of other emotions. 

She embraced Nagisa in a tight hug and nuzzled into their chest, Nagisa returning the embrace and cracking a smile. 

Nagisa patted Ruby’s head and continued, asking, “Do you feel happy?”

Ruby let out a chuckle. “Yeah, of course I do.”

“That’s good. Don’t be sad over the drawing. I bet it was cool, and better than mine. I will imagine you gave it to me. And I’ll make you something, too.”

“Really? You don’t have to…”

“You want me to be happy. I’ll make  _ you  _ happy, too. We can look at the fish together.”

“That sounds nice…” Ruby pulled away from the hug and grinned at Nagisa, lighting up the room around the two of them. “Thank you, Nagi.”

Not even once in her life did Ruby imagine someone caring for her like this. It was a dream come true, and in the end, she and Nagisa were lifted from their sorrow, and bore bright, beautiful smiles, resembling the rays of the setting sun, shining as bright as diamonds.


	2. Dennis x Colston

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dennis goes stargazing with Colston on the rooftop.

Dennis Jansen was _bored_. 

He had already done absolutely everything he could’ve thought of throughout the day. Since it was the last week of school, nobody had any work to do (except for the irresponsible kids who had to do their make-up work) and overall, the school days were filled with either relaxation or pure fun, depending on the average students’ choosing. And of course, as usual, Dennis was filled with energy, and spent almost the entire day playing outside and doing all sorts of things. But it was not only because of that he was bored. His _grandmother_ was going to pick him up from school extra late that evening, since _she_ was busy with work-related business, and although he was trusted, he wasn’t allowed to walk home past four. And since he was in the club, he had to be picked up very often. 

With absolutely nothing to do for the next hour, he decided to look for any signs of his friends still being there at the school. It wasn’t unlike him to run around the school building, approaching random people, but he figured that’s what popular kids did, right? It wouldn’t hurt. 

However, the more he searched the building—downstairs, upstairs, the classrooms and clubrooms—the more he came to realize that none of his friends were present. So what did he do? He decided to stand in the hallway, his back against the wall, and text Min-Jun. 

_Hmm, what should I text him? I could ask him to go out with me, right? Nah, I do that all the time! If he were Ruby, I could just talk about random stuff with her the whole time and she’d find it funny, but she’s probably busy playing games with Rudy or something. ...Ooh, I have an idea! I can find one of those super long copypasta things online and spam it to Min! I’m such a genius!_

Annoying him sure was fun.

But as soon as he sent his message, it didn’t even go through.

Min-Jun blocked his number.

Well, it didn’t really bother Dennis. He saw it coming. Especially after he spammed all sorts of weird emojis to Min-Jun. It couldn’t be helped.

On the downside, this just made Dennis’ boredom even worse. He didn’t know who else to talk to, his phone was running out of battery, and there was still around an hour ‘till he could finally leave. The night sky was surely coming, and the hallways darkened, the sunlight no longer illuminating the area. 

But this got him thinking.

_Hmm, it’s almost night time. It would’ve been nice to make some carrot cake with my grandma tonight, but here I am, stuck here. Oh well! Maybe I can just go to the rooftop outside and make some wishes or something! Colston and Hyun-a like doing those kinds of things, don’t they? I actually haven’t checked the roof yet, so maybe I’ll bump into ‘em~!_

He placed his phone back inside his pocket and hopped upstairs with a grin, gleaming with excitement. At last, he arrived at the door serving as the entrance to the rooftop. 

_We could totally talk about something having to do with the stars, right? Ooh, maybe we can play some games up there, too! ...But stargazing is a bit boring, and I don’t really know much about stars or anything._

He swung the door open, immediately looking up at the night sky. “Just what I thought! It’s so pretty!” he exclaimed. 

“Dennis?” a disembodied voice spoke.

“Oh, yeah, what’s up?” He looked downwards, only to discover that the voice belonged to none other than Colston, who was lying on the ground, staring up towards the sky. “Oh, it’s you…!” For a split second, he could feel all of his previous thoughts drift away, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. 

“I didn’t think that I’d get to see you here.”

“Ahah, me neither! Why’re you lying on the floor like that? Did you throw out your back or something?”

Colston good-naturedly rolled his eyes. He spoke in a flat tone, “Yes, of course. I’m an old man and I can’t get up.”

“I’ll help you, then!”

He lightly chuckled. “No, of course I didn’t throw out my back. Ain’t I too young for that?”

“Well, I thought you weren’t kidding, since you’re usually _down_ in the dumps.” Dennis snickered at his own terrible joke. “Hah, funny, right? Doesn’t it make sense?” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

“Soooo…” Cue the awkward silence. “Uhh, are you just gonna lie there and stare at the sky or something?”

“It’s what I’m used to doin’. I do this at home, anyway. I just can’t leave right now since I’m gonna be picked up super late, so yeah.”

“Ohh!”

_So it’s the same for him, huh? What a weird coincidence!_

Dennis wanted to speak his mind, and so, he did. “Hah, maybe this was fate or something! Like, maybe the _stars aligned_!”

Colston couldn’t find himself to laugh at the joke. Instead, he clapped. “Wow. That was hilarious, Dennis. Good job.”

Unfortunately, Dennis couldn’t tell the difference between sarcasm and truth. “I know, right? Hey, maybe I should tell the others about this joke too! Wouldn’t that be nice? Hey, hey, and maybe you can help me come up with a few that have to do with space! You love space stuff, right? Don’t you?”

God, this kid was annoying. And impulsive. And kinda cute. “You want me to tell you about space crap?”

“Uh, yeah!”

Colston had to admit this: he was surprised. “...Oh. Really?”

“I just said ‘yeah,’ didn’t I? Are your ears dying or something?”

“No, they ain’t dyin’. And why’re you still standin’ there? Don’t you wanna sit down? Not even lie down?”

“Well,” Dennis shrugged his shoulders, “Aren’t we just gonna be staring up at the sky or something? That’s kinda boring, y’know? I was thinking that we could keep talking about… uh… something!”

“You sure love sayin’ ‘something,’” Colston teased. “But…” His tone of voice dropped. “It’s fine if you don’t wanna be here. I know that stargazin’ is boring.” 

“Ah.” Dennis walked closer to where Colston was located and placed his hands on his hips. Out of nowhere, he felt the sudden urge to stay by Colston and at least talk about something, or just about _anything_ , and it wasn’t out of pity. That’s what he thought. “By the way, how’s the astronomy club going, dude? You haven’t been talking about it a lot, but I thought you were keeping it going!”

“Oh.” Colston paused. “Yeah, well....” He looked up at Dennis. “Hyun-a and I still haven’t had any luck with findin’ new members, but it’s fine, I guess.”

“What do you mean, ‘it’s fine?’ Wouldn’t anyone be sad if their club didn’t get any people?”

“I dunno. I’m not sure anymore. I mean, it’s been a few years anyway, so to hell with it.” Colston let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s not like anyone else is interested in space stuff anyway. That’s why I thought that I’d be here by myself, but--”

“Stargazing sucks, but I really like Venus!”

“You ain’t gonna let me finish my super non-interesting sentence?”

“I meant that space stuff is cool! If I weren’t busy at home and in this club already, then I’d definitely join yours! Then we could talk about that stuff together!”

Without uttering a word in response, Colston turned his head away from Dennis. After a few seconds of silence, he lowly mumbled, “U-Uh, thanks--”

“Oh yeah! What was it called again? Uhhh, piercing? Ear piercing?”

Colston rolled his eyes at Dennis’ stupidity. “It’s Perseus.” 

“Perseus! Tell me about Perseus!” He kneeled down to Colston’s level.

“You’re actually interested in…?” Before he could complete his sentence, as soon as he turned his head to Dennis, he saw his wide grin, which only caused him to quickly avert his eyes once again. “Well, uh, I haven’t told anyone about Perseus that much, so… I don’t really know where to start, actually.”

“Aww come on, tell me! Tell me!”

“Fine, fine, I’ll try.” Colston looked up at the sky. “Well… Wait, do you remember that it’s my…?”

“Favorite constellation?” Dennis completed his sentence. “Yeah, I do! I think you said that a couple of months ago! But why is it your favorite constellation?”

At a loss for words, Colston pushed himself to prompt the explanation. “Uh… well, it’s my favorite because I just find it to look really pretty. It kinda surprised me when I found out about this, but it’s actually named after some random guy in Greek mythology. When I tried talking to my so-called ‘friends’ who forgot about me a couple of years ago, they found it weird, since Perseus was the guy who slayed monsters and beheaded one of ‘em. But isn’t that cool? I’ve always thought that heroes like that were neat, I guess. But it’s just super childish.”

“Woah, that sounds awesome! I wanna kick butt like that piercing guy, too!”

At that moment, Colston couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I told you, it’s Perseus.”

“Whoops.” Dennis took notice of the stars aligned in the sky. “Hey, do all stars make some sorta constellation? Are planets a part of them, too?”

“Only stars,” Colston informed, pointing up to the sky. “You see that? That’s Gemini. That constellation has around seventeen stars.”

“Ooh, neat! I thought they’d be super bright, though.”

“Not all stars are super bright. It depends on how hot they are, or how close they are to the Earth. It’s interesting how stars can be so far away, but still look bright to us because of their heat. But there are thousands of other ones we can’t even see no matter how bright they are. We can only see so much. Just imagine how far the Andromeda Galaxy is from here. It’d take millions of light years to even get close to there.”

“Wow…” Dennis’ eyes sparkled, his interest unexpectedly piqued. “That’s super cool! I didn’t even know any of that! You’re a genius, Colston! It must’ve taken you ages to learn about all of that!”

Colston’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, really?”

“Totally! I mean, I think it’s better that I’ve been spending my time tryna look hot like this, but studying space seems really cool, too!”

“Hmm, thanks,” Colston spoke under his breath. “It’s true. I’ve spent years learnin’ about space. It’s all I’m really into, after all. I can barely ever think of anythin’ else,” he faked a chuckle. “When my family said that I was really smart with those kinds of things, they said that I should make an Astronomy Club, and that’s what I did. But it wasn’t like I didn’t want to, anyway. I guess I just held back a little, that’s all.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that! I thought you started it with Hyun-a!”

“I actually started it with someone else. But… that didn’t go well at all. What they said to me… it’s what I deserved. There’s no way that kind of thing would’ve ever worked out. Not with me.”

Dennis bore a loose grin. “Huh?”

“Uh, nevermind, forget I said all of that. But, uh, about what you said earlier… about fate and stuff. I don’t think you’re entirely wrong. I mean, nobody else showed up, and you’re the only one who came here. You didn’t even know I was up here, either, unlike everyone else. Your name _does_ relate to the Greek god Dionysus.” He added in a tone which was difficult to decipher, “It must be nice to have this stuff happen more often, kinda.”

“Dude? Are you okay?”

Colston didn’t bother to respond, as he continued to look upwards with a deadpan expression.

_Huh,_ Dennis thought, his face blank with confusion. _I’m confused. Colston wanted to be up here, right? So why can’t I get him? I don’t understand. And it’s harder to make jokes, for some reason. I wonder why._

Dennis truly didn’t understand what was wrong with Colston, but even if stargazing was slightly boring, he couldn’t just leave him there. So instead of exiting the area, Dennis finally laid down beside Colston and grinned at him, winking. 

Colston looked to his side, and was taken aback by the sudden closeness of their faces. As soon as their eyes met, he faced the opposite direction. Dennis, confused by this action, nudged his shoulder to grab his attention and joshed, “Hey, isn’t this what you wanted? You don’t hate me now, do you? Or maybe you can’t handle being around a popular guy like me?” He scooted closer to Colston.

“That’s… not it.” Colston once again observed the starlit sky, and Dennis, taking notice of this, did the same.

It was oddly relaxing. Dennis never thought that he’d actually be able to stay in one place, especially while doing something as boring as this, but it felt nice. It almost made him want school to _not_ end, so he could look up at the stars every night on the rooftop. Maybe along with Colston, too.

_I still don’t really get it, but if Colston always wants to look at the stars with other people, then he must be happy right now, right? I actually think I am, too! Who knew stargazing would actually not be boring?_

A few minutes of total silence had passed.

_Hmm. Maybe I should break the silence with a joke!_

That’s exactly what Dennis wanted to do, and he _was,_ but before he could even open his mouth, he felt a certain warmth pressed on his hand. And to his surprise, Colston’s fingers slipped around his. 

_Huh? What’s Colston doing?_

Colston glanced towards Dennis for a brief second. Dennis took this opportunity to tease him and snickered, “Oh my~! If you wanted to be that close to me, you could’ve just said so!”

To Dennis’ surprise and confusion, his words caused Colston’s face to turn scarlet as he rapidly averted his gaze. 

_...What was that reaction for?_

Dennis’ grasp on Colston’s hand tightened, and he continued to scoot closer towards him.

Also, was the area getting hotter, or were the gods playing tricks on them?

“Colston?” Dennis didn’t even mind the fact that he just said his real name. He repeatedly tapped his shoulder, desperate for a response. Did he go too far? No, that wasn’t possible. He had never gone too far with his jokes or teasing, right?

After growing tired of Dennis’ actions, Colston groaned and finally turned around, his face only centimeters apart from Dennis’. He then bore a sincere expression and gently took hold of Dennis’ wrist, moving him over and causing him to switch positions. 

Dennis was now on top of Colston.

“Hey.” Colston pulled Dennis closer to him, whispering, “Consider this as payback for saying those things earlier.”

“Wh-What…?” Dennis Jansen, _the_ popular guy who was a master at flirting and keeping his usual image was stammering out his words? The tables had turned, hadn’t they?

But what Colston said next really sealed the deal. “Don’t you wanna be with me? Or are you scared?”

“N-N--” Unable to convey his words, Dennis fell into a state of panic and hurriedly pulled away from Colston, shock crossing his face. He nervously chuckled and stood up on his feet, hiding his face away from Colston. “I-I, uh, I think I gotta go home now!”

Colston sighed. “For real? If you say so.”

“But, uh…!” He added, bearing a wide, genuine smile, “That actually wasn’t super boring. I, uh, had a lot of fun! It was cool; learning about the stars and all that stuff! Thanks, dude!”

Their goodbye felt a little awkward, but maybe that was okay. “I’m glad I didn’t bore you to death, then.” Colston cracked a rare smile as he played with his hair. 

And that was how Dennis made the discovery that he was absolutely _weak_ to that. 

“Well, it’s about time I leave, too.” Colston walked up to Dennis and nudged his shoulder. “And, by the way… I was only joking like you usually do back there, but you still reacted like that?”

Dennis jumped a little. “What do you mean? We just talked about stars the whole time, silly!” He knew what Colston had meant, but he wanted to spare himself of the embarrassment.

“Yeah, sure.” Colston nodded and walked past Dennis, opening the door in order to walk back downstairs. “C’mon, let’s go.”

At that moment, Dennis felt his heart skip a beat. He nodded, exclaiming, “Yeah, let’s go!”

Who knew that stargazing could’ve been so exciting and interesting?


	3. Hyun-a x Rudy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hyun-a gives Rudy assistance with responding to a love letter.

On the day—a Friday as always—he was supposed to relax, Rudy opened up his locker once the club’s activities were over, only to discover his ninth love letter of the week. 

He was more than used to them. After all, he received them almost every single school day. Whether it was at the beginning of the day, during lunch break, after class, or after club meetings, he would always find a letter attached to his locker at least once. It always had a cheesy phrase written inside, the most common and recent ones being ‘Meet me at the rooftop at sunset for a surprise,’ or ‘Let’s spend some time alone together during lunch.’ Of course, the rather suggestive ones were always anonymous, but he knew the names of so many people, he could figure out who it came from just from their writing style. 

Letting out a sigh, he took hold of the letter and anxiously stood in place, staring at the item and not even daring to open it. 

However, he was too focused on the letter to hear the approaching footsteps behind him.

A familiar figure tapped his shoulder and greeted, “Well, hey there. What’re you holding?”

Rudy jolted forwards but quickly turned around. “Who’re… Oh. Hyun-a?”

“The one and only.” She mumbled, “Unfortunately.”

“What?”

Hyun-a chuckled, “C’mon, I was just messing with ya. Soooo, what’re you holding there?”

“Well…” He looked back down towards the letter. “Someone sent me a love letter. Again. It’s the ninth one this week.”

“The ninth?” The tone of Hyun-a’s voice suggested that she was being a bit overly curious, which wasn’t uncharacteristic of her, but it still felt a bit strange. Rudy paid no mind to it. “Well, lucky you, you little playboy!”

Rudy frowned and held the letter close to his chest. “I’m not a playboy. And I don’t even get any of this.”

“Ah, like how to respond?” 

“That’s a part of it. I don’t even deserve most of these letters, anyway.”

“Well, it’s because you’re popular, of course. That reminds me of when I used to be a huge deal.” Hyun-a shrugged her shoulders. “Every week, I’d receive random love letters from boys I didn’t even know or care about. But for you, it’s mainly girls, isn’t it?”

“I wish I were you from back then.” 

Hyun-a’s grin grew wider. “Ohh, I get it. So you just don’t wanna be popular with the girls, and instead with the boys?”

Rudy owlishly blinked as if he were offended. “That’s not true…! I just…” He handed the letter to Hyun-a. “I already told you. I don’t wanna be popular at all. It’d be nice if  _ you  _ could be in my place.”

“Aww. But  _ I  _ already told  _ you  _ that I’m fine with how things are right now!” She proudly crossed her arms. “I don’t care about being popular again. Sure, when you look at it from an attentional perspective, the difference is obvious, but I’m actually relieved over the fact that I don’t have boys obsessing over me all the time.”

“It must be nice, not being bombarded by people you don’t know all the time… The only time I can catch a break is when I’m in the club.”

No matter how hard she tried to uplift the mood, Rudy only brought forth a frown. It hurt. But she wasn’t willing to give up, so once again, she took the initiative to keep up a lively atmosphere. 

She bore a smug look and leaned in towards Rudy’s face. “C’mon, you’re just contradicting yourself here! You said earlier that you wanted boys to ask you out, but now you’re saying you don’t want any interaction at all? The actions of a true playboy…!”

Rudy pouted. It was adorable. “Jeez, Hyun-a. I thought you understood me.” 

“I do, I do!” She reverted back to her usual smile and stepped backwards. “And to prove that, I’m gonna give you some advice. Want some?”

Rudy nervously chuckled, “I’d appreciate it. I don’t know how to respond to love letters, so…”

“Alrighty! Time to give you the best advice you’ll ever be given. Which is…” Hyun-a stroked her chin. “Hmm…”

Rudy remained patient, in waiting. “You don’t have to come up with advice right now.”

“But that’s my thing! Aren’t I supposed to look after all of you? I  _ am  _ the oldest in the club, after all.”

“Yeah, but still. Don’t you get stressed sometimes?”

“Well, maybe a little, but that just happens because I’m being stupid. And I don’t wanna act stupid in front of  _ you _ . That’d just be embarrassing.” 

Rudy inaudibly mumbled, “You’re talking about me like I’m some kind of god…”

“But you get it, right?” Hyun-a continued. “That’s why I care about y’all so much. And that’s why I have to teach all of you eighth graders to be the best role models ever, y’know!”

“Role models?”

“C’mon, I thought you knew about all of this.”

Rudy firmly nodded. “I do. I understand. By the time you enter high school, you should set a good example to the other people younger than you, but I just don’t think that’d be me.  _ And  _ I don’t know what that has to do with love letters.”

“Well, now’s the time for me to tell you.” Hyun-a nudged his shoulder. “You see those high schoolers on TV? Those big guys who’re the center of attention?”

“I do.”

“Yeah, well don’t be like them.”

“...I’m confused. I thought that's what you were trying to do.”

“Wait, I’m actually being that unclear?” Hyun-a facepalmed. “Darn it. But the point is, uh, you’re aware of why you’re so popular, right?”

“Everyone keeps telling me it’s because of the way I look.”

“Yup. So, don’t you find yourself good-looking or anything?”

“No.”

Hyun-a suppressed the urge to facepalm once more. “...Okay. You know you can still like the way you look without being full of yourself, right?”

“Yes, I do. But I don’t like the way I look.”

“You…” Hyun-a sighed. “People like you are popular for self-explanatory reasons. As long as you don’t rub it in or act like an absolute delusional and spoiled brat like Lisa, you can still be a good role model just by being nice to anyone you come across, since you’re popular and all.”

“I don’t follow. I’m sorry, I’m just dumb.”

Hyun-a’s heart was torn into pieces. “Hey, you’re only dumb if you call yourself dumb. But what I meant to say was…  _ because  _ you’re popular, you might as well take advantage of it. That way, since practically the entire school knows who you are and approaches you a bunch of times, you’ll be able to make ‘em happy, and maybe become friends with them, too. Isn’t that what you want the most?”

Rudy was shocked over the fact that Hyun-a was able to read someone like him so well. “...Yeah, that’s what I want. I get what you mean. But isn’t that a bit much?”

“It’s only ‘too much’ if you think it is.” Hyun-a exclaimed winking near the end of her sentence, “So, here’s my advice to you: Just wing it! Show ‘em what a cool, popular kid like you can do. Especially in high school! Do it before your time runs out, kiddo. Just don’t turn into one of those spoiled rich kids, okay?”

Rudy softly smiled in such an adorable way, it was almost indescribable. “Thanks, Hyun-a. But,” he added, “How am I even going to respond to that letter, and all the other ones?”

“Oh.” Well, didn’t she completely forget about that? “Whoops, I was supposed to answer that earlier, wasn’t I?” She chuckled and handed the letter back to Rudy. “Hmm. I think I have an idea. It’ll be a neat trick of mine; one I used to use back when I was a popular girl.”

“Really?” Rudy’s eyes glistened with interest.

“Yup! But first of all, we gotta know who the letter is coming from.” 

“It’s probably anonymous like the others.”

“You’ll never really know unless you open it up, silly.”

“...Alright.” Although tearing up the envelope was the only way to properly open up the letter, Rudy steadily and cautiously took his time, which only caused him even more frustration. He bit his lip in the process (which caused Hyun-a’s heart to melt), and after a short while, at last held the card in his hands. “There we go. Let’s see, uh…” He opened up the card, quickly skimming through what was written, and his eyes eventually landed on the card’s original beholder. “Oh.”

“Who sent it?”

Due to Rudy’s inability to read the name, he showed it off to Hyun-a, immediately answering her question.

“Oh, so it’s  _ that  _ kid,” she spoke aloud. “I wasn’t expecting a girl like her to send  _ any  _ boy a letter, but I guess anything can happen. Especially when it’s you, Rudy.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hyun-a mentally facepalmed at Rudy’s oblivious self. “Anyway, I know who this girl is, so I think I know what you can write back to her.”

Rudy looked back up to face Hyun-a. “Wait, I’ll be writing this back? Wouldn’t it be better and a bit more professional to talk to her in person?”

“You and your formalities and professionalism,” she bantered. “Sure, if you really wanna do that, but I feel like it’d be easier to get your true feelings across on paper, y’know?”

Rudy nodded in understanding. “You’re not entirely wrong. So, what do you think I should write back? I’m open for any kind of suggestions at this point…”

Hyun-a could already feel the excitement building up inside of her. “ _ Any kind? _ ”

Rudy lightly scolded, “You already know that I’m not gonna take any  _ weird _ suggestions. If you happen to give me any, I’ll ask sis.”

“Aww come on, I’m just kidding with you.” She patted his head and playfully rustled his hair. “What do you think I’m gonna suggest, huh? Something dirty?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hmm, unless you actually wanted me to suggest something like that? You  _ are  _ coming to the queen of advice, after all. I mean, everyone in the club almost always comes to me. Maybe you think of me as some sort of teacher.”

“Don’t say it...”

Arriving at the punchline of her entire joke, Hyun-a teasingly blurted, “Don’t tell me you want me to teach you about kissing and all sorts of things!?”

Rudy was well aware that she was playing around, but although he knew she  _ did  _ take things seriously, at that moment it sure didn’t seem like it. “I already told you. The reason why I need help on what I should say back to them is because I don’t wanna hurt their feelings.”

“Ah, I see. Makes sense. You’re too nice to reject people like that.”

“I really wanna say what I mean, since not saying anything at all was what got me into so much trouble a long time ago in the first place, but… won’t it be too much?” Rudy firmly grasped onto the card. “Besides, I feel like I’ve been too harsh and strict on everyone else lately. I can’t help but think that they hate me, now.”

Hyun-a truly  _ did  _ take what he was saying seriously, no matter how much it hurt. But she knew that having a serious talk at that time wouldn’t benefit either of them, so she bore a teasing grin and gently poked Rudy’s cheek. “C’mon, Rudy~! Didn’t I tell you to stop thinking like that around the time we first met? Confidence is key, y’know!”

“Hyun-a? What are you doing…?” He moved his hand onto Hyun-a’s to move her finger away from his face.

“If we all hated you, then we wouldn’t even be talking to you. We like being around you, and they love depending on you because they like you! I even asked Alicia what she thought of you the other day, and she thinks you're a great leader. Shouldn’t you start thinking that, too?”

Touched by Hyun-a’s words, Rudy’s pulse quickened. “You’re right.” Feeling totally guilty of his upcoming action, he hesitantly inquired once more, “I’m sorry for asking again, but can you please help me with replying to the letter now?”

“Oh, right! Sorry!” Hyun-a giggled along with Rudy.

_ Heh, I love messing with him too much.  _

“Alright, so…” Hyun-a began, “If you wanna reply to that girl without hurting her feelings, just say this: ‘Thank you for the letter, I really appreciate it. However, I cannot reciprocate your feelings, for I—‘“ She interrupted herself midway after observing Rudy’s expression. He was on the verge of bursting into laughter, and it was a bit too obvious that he was trying to stop himself. “What, did I say something wrong?”

“No,” he replied, his hand over his mouth. “But why does it sound so… formal and fancy?”

Hyun-a ended up being the first one to die of laughter. “You? Worrying about something sounding  _ too  _ ‘formal and fancy?’ Rudy, you’re the one who’s always acting like a businessman, and not only because of your sitting position.”

“I’ll admit that, but only some of it. I’m not that uptight.” He muttered to himself, “Or am I…?”

“Rudy, you wanted to talk to this girl upfront just because you thought it was ‘more professional.’ And for better proof, just tell me about the other time’s you’ve talked to other people about these love letters of yours’.”

“Well, I’ve only done that a few times, but… one time, last year, I told a girl, ‘I apologize in advance, but I cannot accept this confession. My heart belongs to stronger passions.’”

“PFFT—“

“That was only one time!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Contradicting her words, Hyun-a continued to giggle.

Rudy pouted once more. “Now I just feel like you’re making fun of me.”

“I’m not, I’m not. You’re just so friggin’ adorable, that’s what.”

Refusing to expand on Hyun-a’s previous statement, Rudy murmured, “...Well, it’s just my fault that I’m all over the place. I even try so hard to stay organized, but…”

“I hope this ‘but’ is a good sign.”

“But,” he continued, “I feel like that… maybe if I start out with being able to reply to these letters properly, I can start thinking clearly. Then, I won’t have to worry about it so much anymore.”

“Now we’re talking! So, anyway, continuing where I left off…” Hyun-a leaned in towards Rudy’s ear, the closeness bringing forth heat to their faces. She whispered, “All you have to say is: ‘I’m flattered to hear that you feel this way about me. However, I cannot return your feelings, for my heart already belongs to  _ stronger passions.  _ One of them being my childhood friend…” she emphasized, “Min-Jun.”

“H-Hey…!”

Hyun-a quickly pulled away. “See, there we go. That won’t be too hard to write down, now will it?”

“I’d only be spreading false information!”

This statement piqued her interest. “Hmm? False information? So do you actually have a crush on someone?”

“W-What? No!” said Rudy as he played with his hair.

“It’s obvious, kiddo. You always play with your hair like that when you’re lying.”

He immediately halted this action. “I do…?”

“I noticed it ever since we first met, silly.”

Rudy huffed, “But this time, I’m being serious. What you said just caught me off guard a little. I don’t like anyone.”

“ _ Anyone _ ?”

“I’ll admit that there was Reese a little while ago, but it wasn’t anything big. Besides, I’m not really cut out for relationships or anything.”

Hyun-a snickered, “Ohh, so I get it. Whenever you’re thinking of your crush, you think about your future with them! I’ve always thought of you as the fantasizing type.”

“Hyun-a…!”

“C’mon, I said that I cared about all of you earlier, didn’t I? And because of that, I’d never give away any of your secrets. So…”

“I take it that you’re gonna ask me if I can tell you who my crush is.”

“Exactly. And you’re saying that like you  _ do  _ like somebody.”

“I don’t—“ Rudy didn’t even bother to finish his sentence. “Just… Just keep in mind that this isn’t gonna be in a romantic way, okay? I’ve never really… thought about anyone in that way before. Like, holding hands and stuff like that… It’s just small.”

Hyun-a nodded along. “Anything else I need to know?”

“And, uh… you won’t make fun of me for this, right?”

She sincerely gazed at him. “Rudy, of course I won’t. You know that I’d never do that. Especially not with you.” 

“...Alright. This is the only time I’m telling you, okay?”

“I understand. Go ahead, Rudy.”

“Uh…” Rudy walked up closer to her, not knowing what he was doing whatsoever, but in the end decided to whisper in her ear, causing chills to run down her spine, “It’s… It’s you.”

“...Hah.” Before Rudy could sprint away without expanding on his words, Hyun-a cupped his face with her hands. “That was obvious. I already know.”

“Y-You already—?!” Rudy paused, unable to process the situation he got himself into. But after all the time Hyun-a had spent messing with him, Rudy figured it was about time he did something,  _ anything _ . He could spot a sense of shock in Hyun-a’s eyes, which gave him the boost of confidence to do what he was about to do next. “...If you already knew, then you should see this coming.” 

As soon as Rudy leaned in closer to her face, Hyun-a already figured out what he was trying to do. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she was ready for the moment she had waited for, but—

“Hey, Rudy! It’s about time to go home!”

The sound of Ruby’s voice immediately snapped them out of their daze, causing Rudy to panic. “O-Oh, good evening, sis…!”

Ruby giggled, “‘Good evening’ what? C’mon, let’s go.” She waved towards Hyun-a. “Oh, and see you later! Let’s play something together later on!” 

Rudy grabbed his backpack and walked alongside Ruby, and as they exited the school building, all Hyun-a could do was watch in silence with a deadpan expression, filled to the brim with disappointment. 

Well, that was anticlimactic. 


	4. Min-Jun x Alicia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Min-Jun catches feelings for Alicia. Accidentally.
> 
> Or: The (almost) five phases of Min-Jun being a stubborn and maybe oblivious idiot.

**One.**

For the longest time, Min-Jun had been wanting to visit the school’s library.

Why couldn’t he do it?

Dennis would always annoy him. Ruby and Rudy wanted to spend time with him after school (which wasn’t a problem at all, but it still kept him from doing other things). Hyun-a would obsess over him and suggest they walk home together. And all the other members of the club would do what they liked with him, except for Alicia. 

On that day, he didn’t want to be ‘disturbed.’ After school, all he desired was peace and quiet, and that’s why he wanted to visit the library. But he also knew that Alicia frequently visited the place. However, he assumed that it wouldn’t even be that bad. After all, she was one of the most reserved members of the club, and never bothered to take part in anything extreme. 

So, at last, Min-Jun arrived at the library, and he finally experienced the calmness and relief he had craved for. He already knew what kind of books he wanted (they had to include topics on magic of course), but he had to be secretive about it. It wasn’t unlike him to despise being exposed, so this wasn’t the first time he ever took precautions. 

And, of course, at the table he decided to sit by, sat Alicia, who had her eyes glued to a book she had checked out. Min-Jun was uncharacteristically curious, attempting to observe from afar. And somehow, as time went on, even if he tried to look around the area, his eyes couldn’t wander away from Alicia. Weird. 

He subtly and quietly walked towards the table and took a seat across from Alicia. He tried not to make too much noise and tried to keep his presence as lowkey as possible. It may have made him look suspicious, but at least he wasn’t gonna be watched. 

Without him noticing, Alicia looked up to him and whispered, “Oh, hey Min-Jun.”

This grabbed his attention. “Hi.”

Alicia lightly chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d be in a place like this. But I guess it kind of makes sense…”

Well, at least he was getting into a conversation with someone he knew. “I just wanna relax. I haven’t properly sat down without people yelling into my ear in ages.”

“I guess I know how you feel.” Alicia looked back down at her book. “That’s why I come here a lot. Reading books is pretty relaxing. I  _ did  _ try inviting Dennis, but he’s easily bored by these kinds of things. Ahah, I should’ve expected that…”

The more Alicia spoke, the more Min-Jun was internally questioning why he found her voice so calming to listen to. “He can never stay in one spot for five seconds. He even knows it.”

“Yeah.” Alicia softly smiled and faced Min-Jun. “So, what are you reading?” She quietly added, “Uh, I’m sorry if that’s too personal… I’ve just never seen you here before, and I don’t know what kind of books you read, so…”

Min-Jun wasn’t willing to give everything away quite yet. “You wouldn’t even be interested. Aren’t you into romance and all that?”

“I like all sorts of genres. Romance is one of my favorites, but another one I like is fantasy. It’s really fun to read.”

“Oh, cool.”

_ So she’s into those kinds of things, too? I thought she was just the average shy girl or something.  _

“Min-Jun, you’re staring at me a lot.”

“Huh?” Min-Jun immediately forced his eyes onto the book, continuing to read the page.

“Wait, I didn’t mean that in a bad way or anything. I just noticed it, and, uhh…” Alicia halted her babbling and looked down to the book. 

Min-Jun knew the library was supposed to be a place of relaxation, but the silence that followed Alicia’s words was just uncomfortable, somehow. It was ironic; he wanted to keep talking to someone in a place he came to in order to receive peace and quiet. But maybe it was just because Alicia wasn’t annoying or impulsive. She was actually very considerate, easygoing and sweet, and always cared about others first despite her cowardice. And Min-Jun found that endearing.

Wait, what?

*****

**Two.**

Min-Jun found himself talking to Alicia more than usual. For someone who preferred staying home and keeping to himself, he actually wanted to keep up a conversation with this girl, and in the same way he did with Rudy, Ruby, Colston, Hyun-a and Nagisa, including his cousin Aera. 

Wow, he never expected himself to even get along well with that many people. It was almost impressive (to him, that is).

One day, while exiting the school’s premises, he and Alicia randomly came across a cat.  _ A cat.  _

Of course it had to be a cat. Cats were one of Min-Jun’s greatest weaknesses. From (unusually) snakes, lizards to baby birds, he just loved  _ cats _ . But honestly, who would have blamed them? He found them absolutely adorable, but of course he couldn’t reveal his obsession with cats to his fellow club members. They’d probably just make fun of him, right? And on top of all that, his image would’ve been ruined. Then he’d really be viewed as ‘that one delusional kid.’ 

As soon as Alicia saw the cat, she walked up to it and bent down. “Look, it’s a little kitten.”

God, Min-Jun was suffering. He gave his all just to look away from the _thing_. That _adorable_ _thing_. “Oh, really? But what’s it doing here in the first place?”

Alicia observed the cat’s appearance. “I’m not sure.” She began to pat the creature’s head, and noticing its happy expression, a smile was put onto her face. 

Min-Jun quickly took a peek at Alicia, taking notice of her actions. “Hmm.” He had to admit that he was surprised. He honestly expected her to be scared of the animal (since she was already freaked out by so many other things), but maybe she had her own weak points too, just like him. “Maybe it’s a stray,” he randomly thought aloud, looking off into the distance once again with his arms crossed.

“I hope it was treated well. It’s so cute.” Alicia continued to gently run her hand throughout the cat’s soft fur. “When I was little, I used to own a cat like this one. They’re both bengals, it seems.” Her smile grew wider. “Min-Jun, would you like to pet it?”

In response to his name suddenly being called, his eyes landed on Alicia, who slightly scooted over to the side in order to allow the cat to walk over to Min-Jun. “Sorry, I don’t like cats.”

“Oh, you don’t?”

Before Alicia could halt the cat’s actions, Min-Jun quickly added, “I mean, uh, it’s not like I don’t  _ at all _ , it’s just, uh…” He couldn’t even finish his sentence, for the cat was right before him, waiting to be petted.

“I think he likes you,” Alicia commented. “But if you don’t wanna pet him, that’s okay. We can go, I guess.”

Well, wasn’t Min-Jun in a tight spot? “Ugh, fine, I’ll pet him.” He kneeled down to pet the cat, and,  _ oh god _ , he felt like he was in heaven. “...Feels nice.”

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” Alicia beamed as she observed the two. “Looks like he’s happy. I guess he really does like you, after all.”

“Uh, yeah, maybe.” As much as Min-Jun hated to admit it, the cat was the cutest thing he had ever seen, and nothing could’ve ever rivaled against such a thing. He could feel the walls surrounding his heart melting, and it was all thanks to this  _ thing.  _ “...I, uh, haven’t petted a cat like this in a while. Are you sure he isn’t annoyed or anything?”

“Don’t worry, he’s enjoying it.” 

“Mhm.” And for a split second—only a split second—did Min-Jun want to view Alicia’s expression at that moment, but of course it was something he regretted. 

Well, not quite.

For some reason, the happiness Alicia’s expression had conveyed through her beautiful smile shone brightly, and the little chuckle she let out when the cat ran back to her was adorable.

Wait, what?

Min-Jun swallowed hard. He already found something who could rival against the cuteness of the cat. 

*****

**Three.**

God, did it get worse from there. All Min-Jun could do was consider himself sick. Whenever Alicia smiled, he couldn’t help but subtly stare, and in the end, he always cursed himself for it. And whenever his hand was close to coming into contact with Alicia’s, his heart would beat a thousand times per second. Worst of all, was that he couldn’t even figure out a way to make it stop. Sure, avoiding Alicia was an option, but that was just impossible. There was no way he could do that. Not in a million years. 

So, would he just come to terms with what he was experiencing?

Absolutely not.

It didn’t help that Alicia was in his class. Sure, certain classes being combined due to the low amount of students wasn’t considered as some kind of weird coincidence. That’s just how it was. But because of this, Alicia had to always sit behind him during class, which began to make Min-Jun slightly nervous. 

“Hey, Min-Jun?” Alicia whispered, near the class’ end.

He turned his back to her and whispered back, “What is it? We’re in the middle of class.” That came out a bit harsher than what he had intended. But when it came to Alicia, he just didn’t know how to  _ think _ .

“Sorry. My pencil just broke, and I need a new one. Is it okay if I borrow one of yours’?”

“Uh, sure.” He grabbed a pencil which served as a backup from his desk and held it in his hand. “Here you go.”

Alicia smiled. “Thanks, Min.”

That damn smile. And did she just call him by his nickname? 

Min-Jun was _ dying  _ inside. 

And it only escalated from there. When Alicia reached out to grab the pencil from him, he could’ve sworn their fingers made contact. It wasn’t even that huge of a deal, but it caused Min-Jun’s brain to short circuit. Once Alicia finally grabbed the pencil with her (soft) fingers, Min-Jun immediately turned back around and focused on his classwork, his face partially red.

He just wanted to forget about it; to forget about what had literally just happened. 

Did they hold hands? Not necessarily. But their hands and fingers touched a little, so did it count? Maybe. Min-Jun wasn’t even interested in these sorts of things. According to him, they were just cheesy and cringy. But for the first time in years, he was actually considering his future interactions with this girl, in great anticipation that they’d be able to spend more time together. Maybe even alone. While holding hands.

_...Shit. _

Class was dismissed before he knew it, and out of sheer embarrassment, instead of exiting the classroom, all he could do was bury his face and lay his head on the table. What the heck was he thinking? He was supposed to be that one kid who didn’t stand out much and kept his interests secret. He wasn’t supposed to be getting involved in things like these. Throughout his entire life, he got used to being pulled into things he didn’t wanna be involved in whatsoever, and it  _ sucked _ . Sure, ‘joining’ the club ended up being a good idea, but it was the other times that screwed him up big time. And now he was getting attached to a girl he didn’t even know for his entire life. 

Damn, he was so lame.

*****

**Four.**

Alicia was cute. It was a fact. But because he had admitted it to Hyun-a (who unfortunately brought up the topic in the first place, and therefore forced him to say it aloud), he was teased for it. Big time. And it wasn’t fun. 

But it wasn’t his fault that he thought Alicia was interesting, kind, thoughtful, selfless and cute, and would probably be a great future partner who he would feel comfortable with, in terms of talking about his interests and overall being open and true to himself.

Wait, it kind of  _ was _ his fault, wasn’t it?

Oh, how he wasn’t ready for the upcoming day.

It was crowded. The entire middle school division was set to go out on a special field trip, and they were all split up into small groups. Min-Jun had secretly hoped and crossed his fingers that Alicia would end up in the same group he was, and fortunately, his wish came true. But that also meant exactly what he thought it would.

Located in one of their designated areas, the group they were in ended up getting mixed in with a large, bustling crowd, as well as their chaperone. Alicia didn’t know any of the people in their group, so she naturally walked near Min-Jun the entire time, which he was totally aware of, but wanted to ignore. But he couldn’t find himself to ignore the fact that one of his favorite people wanted to stay beside him.

To their demise, the situation only got worse. And that was why Min-Jun wanted to lend a helping hand. Literally.

“Our teacher told us to not get lost,” he recalled. “Can’t you get closer? You’re gonna get lost in the crowd.” 

“I’m trying…” Alicia lowly whimpered with a frown, “But I just feel really overwhelmed. I wanna go home.”

“What?”

“I shouldn’t have come here…” She was on the verge of tears. 

Heartbroken by this sight, Min-Jun knew he had to do something, but what?

...Ah, of course. He had to think of the most embarrassing thing on his mind and actually make it happen. 

“Here.” Min-Jun hesitantly held out his hand. “Hold my hand. Let’s walk together.”

_ God, you’re such an idiot,  _ he mentally scolded himself.

Alicia unexpectedly nodded. “...Okay.” She grabbed onto Min-Jun’s hand.

Oh. Crap.

Min-Jun’s mind was in an absolute uproar.

_ She actually took my hand? She agreed to this? What the hell?! Why did I even do that in the first place? I could’ve just done something else! Something other than… holding… hands. _

Alicia’s hands felt nice.

And despite the commotion surrounding them, it was almost as if Min-Jun and Alicia were the only people in the area. The atmosphere changed entirely, and Min-Jun desperately didn’t want that warmth to leave his hand. He prayed to God that nobody could see his face. 

And the longer their hands were in contact, and the more their shoulders accidentally brushed against each other from time to time, Min-Jun realized that he dragged himself into something he could never escape from.

As his heartbeat quickened, he finally admitted to himself that he had a crush on Alicia.

Man.

*****

**Five.**

All Min-Jun could think about was Alicia. That stupid, cowardly and adorable blue-haired girl with mesmerizing amethyst eyes. He wanted to hold her hand. He wanted to embrace her. Heck, even while he played his video games after school with Aera, he stopped for a moment to think about what it’d be like with Alicia there, totally ignoring the fact she didn’t even  _ like  _ playing video games in the first place. Maybe he even wanted to kiss her.

He couldn’t even  _ ‘wait, what?’ _ that. 

So, what was he going to do? He had already accepted the fact that the others would tease him for it, and he acknowledged that it’s never been in a mean way. Besides, they probably had their own crushes too, so he wouldn’t be the odd one out. Right?  _ Right?  _

No, overthinking wasn’t his thing. That was Rudy’s. He was supposed to deal with this in a mature and relaxed manner. Yeah, that’s right. He was supposed to confess his love to a girl who was almost the exact opposite of him in terms of personality and who he wanted to kiss. That wasn’t going to be too hard.

But that ended up being his greatest dilemma. Oh well.

However, the more he thought about it over time, the more he realized that maybe he and Alicia weren’t so different after all. They were both reserved, longed for peace and quiet, liked to help other people (although Min-Jun was someone who denied that fact all the time), obsessed with cats, and on top of all that, they enjoyed each other's company. 

No wonder Min-Jun fell for this girl. 

And at that moment, he was experiencing the best day of his life. He was spending most of his day at Alicia’s house, the meeting labelled as a play date.

What a hilarious joke of a term.

Min-Jun saw this as the only chance he would ever get for the rest of the year. Maybe his life, even. However, in spite of his excitement, while spending time on Alicia and admiring just how  _ pretty she was _ , he ended up delaying his plan till the last minute. But maybe that was okay. At least he wouldn’t have to suffer from the long-term embarrassment of confessing, while they still possibly had a few hours left before the day was over.

And so, Min-Jun’s biggest opportunity actually came  _ to  _ him.

He was sitting at a table beside Alicia as they sketched a few things they had in mind. And what were they drawing? Cute cats, of course. Alicia was the better artist, but Min-Jun didn’t let that bother him whatsoever. He was happy whenever Alicia was proud of her drawing, and he repeatedly yet subtly complimented her on her advanced skills. He also found the way she was so focused on her drawing to be kinda cute. 

He really was too weak for her. 

Once he applied the finishing touches to his sketch, he announced, “Alright, I’m done. What about you?” 

And  _ out of nowhere _ , Alicia suddenly leaned in towards Min-Jun and rested on his shoulder.

Now it was the time to say it.

_ Wait, what…?! _

Why was Alicia resting on his shoulder? Was she falling asleep? Half awake, maybe? Was it on purpose? 

Min-Jun couldn’t even calm down. All sorts of questions rummaged throughout his mind, but all he could say was such a simple phrase. “What are you doing?” But of course, he received no response from the girl he liked, who was literally  _ resting on his shoulder _ , for god’s sake.

What was he supposed to do? He had no experience with these sorts of things whatsoever. Their faces were close enough, so he could at least kiss her forehead, right? Would she even notice? Again, was she even awake? Her eyes were closed.

…And now they were open. Her eyes were slowly opening. That was a good sign, right? She even made a cute expression and everything. That definitely didn’t make Min-Jun’s heart race even faster. Definitely not. And what a surprise; he couldn’t even utter a single word. All he wanted to hear was Alicia at least say  _ something _ .

“Hey, uh, Min…?” His wish was granted. Hallelujah.

“Y-Yeah?” Min-Jun was blessed with a full view of her face.  _ Cute _ .

“Uh...” She played with her sleeves with a worried expression. At least, that’s what Min-Jun thought her expression was radiating. Maybe she truly was half asleep. “I’m sorry, I’m probably making you nervous, aren’t I…?”

_ Well, you’re leaning on my shoulder, so what do you think?  _ Is what Min-Jun wanted to say. 

“But, uh…” Her frown slowly but surely grew into a sweet, genuine smile. She then looked downwards, mumbling, “Feel free to get upset at me for saying this, alright? I don’t… exactly know what I’m doing, but…” 

“W-What?” was all Min-Jun could stammer out. 

“But…” Alicia continued, slightly raising her voice, now confident that it could be heard clearly. “...I really like you, Min. A lot.”

“...Huh?”

And that’s how his wish came true.


	5. Min-Jun x Rudy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rudy is in charge of baking a cake for the club’s Christmas party, and calls Min-Jun over for “help.”

“Is it done yet?”

“I haven’t even pre-heated the oven.”

Rudy and Min-Jun stood by the kitchen counter, the sun’s rays passing through the windows and illuminating the area. It was the afternoon, and later on in the day, they would be hosting a Christmas party at the Myers’ house (which was where they were), everyone’s close friends attending as well. Rudy promised them that he’d be in charge of making the cake, but his motivation slightly dissipated when he found out that nobody from his family would be helping him, since they had some errands to run. So, instead of anxiously handling everything by himself, he decided to call Min-Jun over for assistance. 

But the main downside? Just like his older cousin, but increased by tenfold, Min-Jun was  _ impatient _ .

“How long is it gonna take you to prepare everything, anyway?” 

In the midst of Min-Jun’s complaining, Rudy struggled to set the correct settings for the oven. “A big party requires a big dessert. There might as well be at least more than fifteen people coming, eighty percent of them being sloppy, so I have to make this as neat and perfect as possible.”

Min-Jun good-naturedly mumbled, “You and your ‘perfect’ stuff.” 

Rudy turned around to face him. “Can you grab the recipe and tell me the conditions for the oven?”

“Uh, sure.” Min-Jun grabbed the book containing the recipe they were using from the counter and read the instructions aloud. “‘Preheat the oven to a temperature of three-hundred-fifty degrees.’”

“Does it say for how long?”

“You’re too specific.” He then followed suit. “‘For an hour at most…’” He grimaced, “Wait, what? An hour? You gotta be kidding me!”

“This was only supposed to take two hours, not three…” 

“Whatever, let’s just choose a different recipe. One that takes up less time.”

“But I told you, we need to make a large cake that everyone can eat for the party, or else there won’t be enough.”

“Something is better than nothing.” Min-Jun skimmed through the pages. “I don’t know a damn thing about cake, but it should be easy to find something else here, right?”

“But…”

“What?”

Rudy averted his eyes. “I already looked at those beforehand, and even if it takes a shorter amount of time to make them, I don’t know how to, uh…”

“You ‘don’t know how to’ what?”

He played with his hair. “I don’t know how to mix the ingredients.”

Min-Jun rolled his eyes. “You liar. You just don’t wanna do it.”

Rudy took a defensive stance. “I do! But I’m worried that some of us might not get any. That’s why it needs to be large. How will Dennis react if he doesn’t get any in the end?”

“Why use Dennis as an example? Because he doesn’t deserve any?”

“He’d throw everything around everywhere like a two year old!”

“Honestly, he really would.”

After a few seconds of silence, the two adolescents broke out into laughter, Rudy partially covering his mouth. 

He cleared his throat afterwards. “Uh, anyway… If we stick with the recipe from earlier, it might come out a bit later, but it’d be better than having a disaster break loose.”

Min-Jun shrugged his shoulders and walked up to Rudy, standing beside him with the recipe in hand as he spoke, “Fine, fine. But how about we cut some things outta the recipe so it doesn’t take that long?”

“You need patience for these kinds of things, Min.”

“Uh, what do you mean? I’m being  _ patient _ . I’m tryna help us finish the cake earlier so it’s ready in time for the party.”

“If we rush things or skip certain steps, it won’t turn out right.”

“Mhm, okay.” He sarcastically added, “May the gods bring us crappy fortune.”

“The gods?”

Min-Jun didn’t even mean to say that out loud, but it was fine if he elaborated on it if he was with Rudy. “Um, ‘the gods?’ Don’t tell me you don’t know anything about them.”

“I didn’t think it was plural.”

“I guess it can’t be helped.” Min-Jun simultaneously brought the pans over to the counter. “Remember when you, Ruby and I used to play outside, and I’d say if there were a fallen angel somewhere?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you guys just kept on believing that I was faking it. But it was real. I have the ability to see these things, y’know.” He unconsciously halted his actions. “It’s on relaxing days like these all sorts of things happen. These creatures come out in the evening, announcing the coming of their new lord. Did you know that in a couple thousand years, a new empire is gonna be born on the other side of the world? You don’t know, do you? It’s up to the members of the church to expel the demons trying to build this empire, but a couple thousand years isn’t enough. These things are even being perfectly portrayed through video games. The developers know. It’s only a matter of time before the next coming of Christ occurs, but will that be enough to end this war? I don’t think so. ‘Cuz then again, I learned that a couple million years ago, these demons and fallen angels ruled the Earth and took hold of human beings, and can even possess heavenly objects. That means that to this day, there could still be humans being possessed by fallen angels, and if you’re out during the final sunset of the month, they’ll take the opportunity to—“

“Min?”

“...Shit.” Min-Jun rubbed his forehead. “I just said all of that out loud, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“Ugh, screw me.”

Unbeknownst to him, Rudy bore a smile the entire time, staring with a loving expression. “All of that stuff is amazing, Min.”

His eyes landed on Rudy as he sighed. “Except it’s not even real. It’s just all made up by this stupid fragment of my imagination.”

“I think as long as you believe it’s real, it’s real.”

“But it’s so damn annoying. I can’t even stop myself from saying this crap out loud when we’re supposed to be  _ baking  _ stuff!”

“It’s cute, though. You looked really happy, too.”

Min-Jun’s face turned red to Rudy’s statement as he averted his gaze. “A-Anyway, can you cheese these pans?”

Rudy held back his laughter. “‘Cheese?’”

“I said—?!” Min-Jun was sure he was about to die from embarrassment. “I meant grease, grease!  _ Grease _ the pans!” 

“Did you forget that the word ‘grease’ existed?”

“No I didn’t!”

Rudy giggled. “Alright, alright.” He opened one of the cupboards and grabbed a nonstick cooking spray, applying it to the pan. “That’s done. The oven’s already preheated, so I think we have to stir the ingredients together now.”

Min-Jun double-checked the recipe for clarification. “Yup. It says only the dry ones.”

“Okay. We already have the flour, salt and baking powder set up here, so—“

“Ugh, this is taking so long. I’m getting the bowl.” He did as he said he would and brought the bowl to the counter, then rapidly pouring the ingredients inside.”

“Hey, Min, wait a minute! This requires exact measurements!”

“Screw ‘exact measurements.’” He added without holding back, “If we wanna be blessed by the gods for this party, we need to finish this cake early.”

Rudy decided to play along. “Do their rulebooks say anything about finishing cakes early?”

“No, but there’s something like that, uh… somewhere.”

“You’re just—!” 

“Done. Yay. Time to stir them.” He grabbed the whisk located on the counter and stirred the dry ingredients together. “See? I’m doing it, Rudy. I’m stirring the ingredients.  _ Faster _ .”

“I can see that.” Rudy grabbed a bowl and set it on the table. He then walked over to one of the cupboards once more to grab a mixer. Afterwards, he grabbed the cable and plugged it into the side of the counter, where an input was located. “Since you want to do things ‘ _ faster _ ,’ do you wanna mix the butter and sugar together?”

“So you’re gonna make me do all of the work? I thought you wanted to do this your way and make it perfect.”

Rudy huffed, “I’m gonna tell you which settings to apply to the mixer. I’ll also have to add the sugar myself so you don’t pour it all in at once.”

“...Fair enough. I’m done with the other bowl, anyway.” 

“Alright.” Rudy handed him the mixer and read the recipe’s instructions. “Set the mixer’s speed to medium and beat the butter for thirty seconds.” Min-Jun did as he was told, and Rudy took notice of this, adding small amounts of sugar at a time to the bowl. “Scrape the sides of the bowl and keep on beating the mixture until it has a light texture. You’ll be able to tell just by looking at it as you continue to beat the ingredients together, but make sure to do it at a steady pace that isn’t too quick or slow. It has to be just right, so it’ll turn out—“

“I lost you at ‘bowl.’”

“Oh.” 

“You sure like going into detail.”

“Ahah…” Rudy nervously chuckled out of embarrassment and remained quiet. He occasionally glanced at Min-Jun, reviewing his progress. “Ah, wait, you’re mixing it too quickly.”

“There’s a such thing as doing it too quickly?”

“You need to be more patient and precise with these things.” 

Rudy  _ knew  _ he was probably being too hard on Min-Jun and being too much of an obnoxious perfectionist, but he couldn’t help but utter the words which came to his head. Not only did he feel massive amounts of pressure and stress from being in charge of making the cake, but the party was  _ soon.  _ He cursed himself for being his stubborn self, but Min-Jun was the same. Maybe his childhood friend understood and didn’t really mind. 

And maybe he didn’t just call him over for assistance. Maybe he also really appreciated his company. 

Rudy felt like he had to come up with a way to make up for how odd he was acting. And that’s what he did. “I’ll help you, Min. Gimme a second.”

“Huh?”

In a matter of seconds, Rudy stood directly behind Min-Jun, their closeness reaching an overly embarrassing degree. Rudy held the other’s hands and gently guided them along with the mixer, steadily slowing down Min-Jun’s pace. 

“Like this.” Rudy elucidated, “I’d like to do it quickly too, but at this step, you have to mix it slowly. That way, it’ll have the texture the recipe requires.”

On the other hand, Min-Jun was about to die.

Screw the recipe. Screw the party. Screw the stupid  _ bowl _ . Rudy was holding his hands. He could’ve sworn Rudy’s chest was pressed against his back. Rudy was uttering words  _ into his ear.  _ Was this what heaven felt like? 

It was through this he discovered that Rudy probably didn’t even need help with anything, but it was a pleasant blessing to even be there just for that moment. Hallelujah, praise the lords. 

_ Thank you for bringing Rudy into my life, God. _

“All done.” 

The sudden sound of Rudy’s voice snapped Min-Jun out of his heavenly awakening. “H-Huh? Oh, yeah! We’re done! Yay!”

Rudy slowly backed away. “Min...? Are you okay?”

Well, that was out of character. “...Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be, huh?” 

“Okay…” 

Yikes, that was awkward. 

“Anyway,” Rudy prompted after what seemed to be a minute of silence, “Now we have to break an egg into a custard cup and add it to the mix we just finished. I’ll take care of that.”

Min-Jun nodded, “Mhm. And, wait, what do I do, then?”

Rudy replied with an unreadable, deadpan expression, “You can leave if you want. I’ll take care of everything else.”

Min-Jun knew exactly how he was feeling. 

It was just Rudy feeling guilty again (as usual). It was probably over the fact he was being too strict. Min-Jun didn’t find it annoying in the slightest, but he knew Rudy assumed the exact opposite. Sure, Min-Jun didn’t wanna have to wait an extremely long amount of time just for the cake to be done, but he wouldn’t let his impatience get to him and allow him to take up the offer to leave. It’d be best to stay with Rudy, instead. 

But it wasn’t like he genuinely wanted to be with him or anything. He just wanted to cheer him up somehow by staying. Don’t get the wrong idea.

“I’ll pour the batter into the pans and put it in the oven when you’re done with that.”

“You don’t have to, it’s fine.” As he spoke, Rudy broke an egg in half, the yolk falling into the custard cup, and he repeated this action with the remaining three eggs. “By the time this cake is done, there won’t be enough time to get ready for the party.”

“Yeah, and I don’t care.”

Rudy’s eyebrows rose, a faint smile creeping onto his face. “...Okay.” He poured what was inside the custard cup into the bowl containing the ingredients they had previously mixed and beat them at an easygoing pace. 

“Looks like you’re having fun there.”

“Well, sometimes when my mom isn’t home, Ruby wants me to cook for her, so I end up making dinner. She really likes it, and it makes her happy.”

Min-Jun took out the baking pans. “Dude, you’re so girly.”

“I’m not—“ Rudy pouted, muttering, “The others have been saying the same thing, but that’s not the case. That’s just a stereotype…”

“I’m just kidding,” Min-Jun chuckled.

“Even if you were, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“Boys should be able to enjoy cooking and baking without falling into the ‘girly’ stereotype. Besides, you like baking with your cousin Aera too, right? So how do you feel about it?”

“I don’t—“ Min-Jun stammered out, “I-I don’t bake crap with Aera! We never have and never will!”

Rudy suppressed a giggle. “You don’t have to hide it from me. It must be a lot of fun, right? Cooking with your relatives.”

Min-Jun crossed his arms. “...Uh, yeah, I guess. It’s the same for you, too.”

“It really is.” Once he was done beating the ingredients, he glanced at the blonde with a smile. “I thought it’d be a bit embarrassing, since I don’t think I’m  _ super  _ good at cooking, but… it’s fun with other people like you, too.”

“Huh?” Min-Jun was well aware of what he said. He just didn’t wanna say the wrong thing and make everything awkward again.

“Um…!” Rudy babbled, “I meant anyone in general who isn’t in my family! Y’know, since I, uh, always cook with Ruby, and…”

“I get it,” Min-Jun cut him off, facing the opposite direction. “So, are you done?”

“With what?”

“ _ Beating the ingredients _ .”

“O-Oh, yeah, I’m done!” He turned off the mixer. 

“Cool. So, uh, how do I spread the batter throughout the pan?”

Rudy giddily replied, “Well, first, you need the batter.” He scooted over the bowl containing the batter towards Min-Jun. Then, he grabbed a metal spatula and handed it to him. “Pour the batter in the pan, and spread it with the spatula.”

“Oh, okay. I thought you had to use a spoon or something.”

Suddenly, Rudy had a magnificent idea. “...You  _ could  _ do it all without even using your hands.”

And that’s what flicked the switch. Min-Jun’s eyes sparkled. “Yeah, I could.” His excitement bubbled up within him with every second that passed. “...The gods have given us the blessing of prosperity! With my unforeseen magical powers given unto me by Perseus, I will spread the batter through the pan and get the cake done in no time!”

God, this side of Min-Jun was just so cute and admirable. “Good luck, Min!”

“I don’t need luck!” He proudly declared with a grin, “Anything is possible, and everything will be possible! Come down, spirits of… of…”

“You said Perseus befo—“

“ _ Perseus _ ! Come down, spirits of Perseus! Make the batter move!”

Seconds later, nothing even happened. That was disappointing.

“...It’s not moving.”

Rudy patted his back. “Maybe the gods are tired.”

“No they’re not, they’re just lazy…!”

The wait continued, but a minute later, Min-Jun stood in place, staring at the pan with a face of disappointment. How anticlimactic.

“Maybe they just need a rest. It’s the day before Christmas Eve, after all.” 

“Ugh.” Min-Jun grasped onto the spatula and spread the batter in an even layer. “I can’t believe we even did all of that.”

Rudy added, “Even if the gods don’t answer you at all, at least we’re almost done with the cake.”

“I can’t tell if you’re tryna be negative or positive at the same time.”

“I don’t even know, either.”

“That’s how you are.” As Min-Jun continued his actions, he realized just how  _ close  _ he was to Rudy. Again. He wasn’t complaining, but if this proceeded, he was sure to act stupid. “...Rudy, personal space.”

“O-Oh, sorry.” Rudy rapidly took a few steps away, eventually making his way towards the oven. To prevent another awkward silence, he remarked, “Uh, I’ll open up the oven.”

“Ah, okay. I’m almost done, anyway.”

“That quickly?”

“It’s like you said. Since I’m staying here, it’s better if we finish early so we can both have enough time to get ready for the party.”

“Both of us…?” Somehow, just  _ somehow _ , Rudy’s mind went elsewhere, which caused heat to rise to his face. He attempted to ignore this and shook his head. “Uh, yeah, you’re right!”

“U-huh.” Suspicion rose within Min-Jun, but he paid no mind to it. Around a minute later, he completed his task and handed the pan to Rudy. “Here. Put it in.”

“Thanks.” Rudy double-checked to see if the oven had even been preheated the whole entire time, and to his contentment, the requirements were met. He placed the pan inside the oven and closed it up, setting the timer. “Alright, we just have to wait around fifty minutes.”

“Fifty minutes?!” 

“An extra ten if that’s not enough.”

“Are you insane? No, this recipe is insane!” Min-Jun groaned and stretched his arms across the counter, laying his head down. “Ugh, why do these things take so long?”

Rudy wasn’t a fan of others’ complaining, but at least Min-Jun’s wasn’t unbearable. It was kinda cute. “You must be really looking forward to that cake.”

“I-I am not! Well, kinda, but I don’t get why this has to take so long…!”

“Things take time.” Rudy came up with an idea. “Hey, since we’ll be waiting for a while, do you wanna watch some TV?”

“Uh…”  _ Only if you have  _ [ _ Kokomom _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LmkUIa4CP4) , he wanted to say. 

“We can watch some Kokomom on YouTube.”

Min-Jun blinked, slowly turning his head to Rudy. “You have—“ he interrupted himself and mentally facepalmed. “No. I don’t even know what that is.”

“Hyun-a told me you watch it.”

Crap. “She did? Hilarious joke.”

“Min, do you want to watch Kokomom?”

Totally weak to Rudy’s expression, he slowly nodded, surrendering. “...Yes.”

*****

After almost an entire hour, the oven’s timer finally went off. Rudy grabbed the remote and paused the video, while Min-Jun enthusiastically sprang up from the couch and ran to the kitchen.

“You’re gonna fall if you keep running,” Rudy warned as he stood up and made his way to the oven.

“Now I’m starting to think you’re not even excited for this thing.”

“I am. And that’s implying that you are,” he teasingly added.

In the heat of the moment, Min-Jun accepted the fact. “Yeah, yeah. You do the honors of taking it out, Mister Chef.”

“Will do.” Rudy opened the oven and from within a drawer, grabbed an oven mitt and took out the tray, placing it on the counter. His eyes widened with surprise. “Woah, this turned out really good.”

“Lemme see.” Min-Jun walked over to him. Once he took a look at the cake, his eyes shone with interest, totally awestruck. “...You’re right, it looks amazing! We really did receive a blessing from the gods!”

Rudy widely grinned. “It’s perfect.” However, his smile was short-lived. “Wait a minute…” He gasped, “We skipped a step!”

“Wait, what?”

“We were supposed to add some milk to the mix!”

“Oh, we were? It looks fine to me, though.”

“It looks great, but what if it tastes bad? It could be a  _ good  _ thing since Colston’s lactose-intolerant, but what’ll happen to the flavor? Will it even taste like vanilla cake when we add the frosting? Is it gonna decompose like the rotting grains of sand we’ll become when—“

“Jesus, calm down!” Min-Jun covered Rudy’s mouth with his hands. “Who cares if we missed a single step? It still looks fine, and we even got it done. Isn’t that enough?”

His words muffled, Rudy questioned, “But what if nobody likes it?”

“Ugh.” Min-Jun’s hands dropped to his side, letting go. “You worked really hard, didn’t you? So, that should be good enough. Besides, it’s just cake. And the frosting is gonna outshine most of it, anyway.”

Rudy nodded in understanding. “...Yeah, I guess you’re right. But  _ you  _ worked on it too, y’know. It wasn’t just me.”

“Mhm…” Min-Jun turned his head to the cake. “So, can we add the frosting now?”

“I don’t think so. Not yet, anyway. We have to wait for the cake to cool off.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” 

“Eh.” Min-Jun clapped his hands together in a praying gesture. “God, please make this cake cool off sooner…”

“Maybe that’ll work,” Rudy said with a grin. 

Genuinely touched, an intensifying blush spread across his face. “M-Mhm. It will.”

Rudy’s heart melted. “Since we’re gonna be waiting for a bit,” he began, “Do you have any ideas for decorating it?”

Min-Jun raised his eyebrow. “What do you mean? I thought you already had something in mind. Aren’t we just gonna be adding some vanilla frosting?”

“We are, but I feel like everyone else would like something a bit more flashy.”

“Who cares?”

“I do.”

Min-Jun sighed. “C’mon, I meant who cares so much about decorating a cake for a kids’ party? On top of that, a _messy_ _Christmas_ party. The words ‘messy,’ ‘Christmas,’ and ‘party’ don’t go well together.”

“I know…”

“So, all we gotta do is hurry it up and put on the frosting. Worrying about decorations and all that crap is pointless. Besides, you helped make most of it, so it should be fine.”

Time for Rudy to be dense. “What?”

“Nothing. Just get the frosting.”

“Oh, okay. I think it’s almost done cooling down, anyway.” From within the pantry, Rudy grabbed the pre-made, store-bought frosting and walked back into the kitchen, the item in hand. “This reminds me of the time I made cupcakes with Dennis. I also made some with my mom a few weeks ago.”

“You actually trusted Dennis with that crap?”

“...Kind of.” As he squeezed the packet on top of the cake, he continued, “For today, I was hoping I could make this cake with my mom, and even Ruby too, but I’m really glad you decided to come over.” He embarrassingly admitted, “I even prefer this over anything else…”

Min-Jun averted his eyes. “You didn’t even need my help. You’re already fine at cooking stuff.”

Almost simultaneously, they internally remarked,  _ At least I got to spend time with you. _

“...Alright,” Rudy announced. “Now I just have to spread it a little more with a spoon, and…”

Min-Jun got right to it and grabbed a large spoon from one of the drawers. “Here.” He held it out to Rudy.

“Thanks.” Rudy then spread the frosting throughout the cake’s surface, making sure it reached every corner. And a minute later, he was finally done. “The cake is finished.”

“Alright! Finally!” Min-Jun leaned in towards the counter, getting a closer look at the cake. “God, that looks delicious. I wanna eat it now. Can I have a slice?”

Rudy bore a look of petulance. “Min, the party’s in less than an hour. You can wait.”

“But at parties like these, you always have to wait ‘till the end to eat the cake.”

“Just because we were the only two who made it, that doesn’t mean we get to steal the first two slices before the party even starts. Even if we’re alone.” He inaudibly mumbled, “All… alone.” Why was that fact so embarrassing?

“Okay, okay.” Min-Jun pointed to the piping bag. “But at least give me some of the frosting.”

“How…?”

“Squeeze the bag and put the frosting in my hands. Simple.”

“It’s unsanitary to lick things off your fingers.”

Min-Jun playfully rolled his eyes. “I obviously know that, but it’s for a good cause. If I don’t have at least a small bit of frosting right now, I might die. I’m losing energy. The gods wouldn’t like that, y’know.”

“Alright…” Rudy did as he was told, and watched as Min-Jun happily licked the frosting off his hands. 

“Mm. This tastes pretty good.”

“Now your hands are gonna be sticky…” But Rudy couldn’t help looking at his expression. It was just something about Min-Jun’s face when he was unusually excited over the smallest things was the most precious thing ever. At that moment, Rudy took notice of something miniscule. “Min, you have a bit of frosting on your face.”

“I’ll clean it myself.” Min-Jun rubbed his mouth.

Rudy lightly chuckled. “You didn’t get it.”

“What do you mean I didn’t get it? If it’s gonna be anywhere, it should be on my mouth.”

“Just stay still.” Rudy walked up closer to him and used his finger to wipe the frosting off Min-Jun’s face. Then, he naturally put his finger in his mouth and licked off the remaining bit. 

“Look who’s being unsanitary.”

And at that moment, Rudy realized:

What in God’s name did he just do?

His entire face became a color to rival the red hue of his own sister’s eyes. Turning around, facing the opposite direction of Min-Jun, he attempted to hide his expression behind his fingers, but it was no use. 

He waited for Min-Jun to at least say  _ something _ . Would he just pass it off like nothing happened, or would Rudy get scolded? What would even happen in that kind of situation? 

In the midst of Rudy’s crisis, Min-Jun simply inquired, “So, are you gonna get ready, or what?”

“...Huh?”

“The party. Are you gonna get ready?”

“O-Oh.” Once Rudy finally calmed down, he turned back around and placed his hands inside his pockets, nervously chuckling. “Yeah, I am. Are you going home now?” 

“I mean, there wouldn’t even be a point. The party’s starting real soon.”

“Don’t you have anything you want to bring with you?”

Min-Jun shrugged. “Nah, I think I’ll pass.” He smiled. “Besides, I’ve already got all that I need here.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“‘Nothing…?’”

He let out a brief sigh. “I obviously meant those playing cards, you dummy. But don’t you dare let anyone else use them. They can’t even know we have ‘em, got it?”

“Ahah, I know, I know. It’s only between you, me, Hyun-a, and Ruby. I promise. ...And maybe Nagisa?”

“...Fine, sure. As long as they don’t draw fish on them.”

Rudy chuckled. “I think they’ll understand.” He looked over to the living room as he placed a cover over the cake. “Wanna watch some more TV while we wait for Ruby to get here?”

Min-Jun nodded. “Sure, yeah.”

“Great. Just wash your hands first. They’re sticky from the frosting.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Min-Jun…”

“I’m doing it, I’m doing it.” He grabbed a paper towel and cleaned his hands, then his face. “There. Can I watch TV now, Dad?”

“I… Yes.”

The duo walked out of the kitchen into the living room, Min-Jun sinking into the couch and grabbing a blanket, hugging a large pillow. 

_ Cute _ , Rudy thought. He sat on the opposite side of the couch, gradually scooting closer to Min-Jun with time. 

And as time passed, Rudy took notice of the fact that Min-Jun began closing his eyes and eventually fell asleep, taking a nap. Rudy assumed it was due to the hard work they engaged in earlier, but perhaps something else had tired him. Either way, the blanket began slipping away from the couch, so Rudy quickly grabbed it before it could fall onto the floor and extended the blanket binding, making sure Min-Jun had enough covering to be warm, much like his previous state. 

Rudy smiled and sat back down, leaning onto Min-Jun’s shoulder. He whispered, “I know you can’t hear me, but thanks for being with me today.” His eyes fluttered closed.

And Min-Jun held his hand. 


End file.
